Giants captain Kim Green was still wearing her school uniform when she first arrived for training under Fitzgerald for the Sydney Swifts aged 16 - and she's not the only big name to have flourished under one of the most successful coaches in the game.

Liz Ellis is one, Catherine Cox another. More recently, Jo Harten - who followed Fitzgerald to Sydney from Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic - is another who has benefited from Fitzgerald's tutelage.

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"I think she understands how good a coach she is, but it's not about that for her," Harten said. "I think she genuinely enjoys being a part of the team environment - she enjoys challenging herself and challenging the girls."

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Harten was just one player to use the word "genuine" more than once when describing the influence of Fitzgerald on the playing group. "Jules" wants to know who Harten is dating, where she went out on the weekend and what she ate for breakfast.

"That’s definitely how she brings out the best in her players, how her teams are quite successful - it's more than just a game for her," Harten said. "I think it's definitely a habit of hers; making relationships with her players that last."

Diamonds and Giants defender Kristiana Manu'a was finding the transition to the top-flight difficult when she got a phone call from Fitzgerald asking her to come to New Zealand and the Magic, following a state league grand final.

"Julie just treats you as a person and she cares about that person you are off-court as much as she cares about the person you are on [the court]," Manu'a said.

For all the plaudits for the five-time premiership-winning coach, there's one person you'll be hard-pressed to get a positive word out of: the woman herself.

"A team can always play netball without a coach, but a coach can’t coach without a team," Fitzgerald said.

All in: The team is alway front of mind for Giants netball coach Julie Fitzgerald. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Fitzgerald feels honoured to have been a part of the careers of players like Ellis, but acknowledged how much of her energy the game has demanded over the years.

"Don’t ask my family that because they’ll tell you '100 per cent'. Coaching a team at this level is a 24-7 job," she said. "I definitely think it is about [the team] first, and my job is to make it as easy for them as possible for them to achieve what they need to achieve."

"The team" is a common theme among Giants and the word references more than its players.

Everyone involved with the organisation is credited with helping to push the second-year franchise toward the one thing that it is all about for Fitzgerald.

"I love winning and I hate losing… in pretty much everything," she said.